Four years as the London’s Deputy Mayor for Policing taught me everything I needed to know about the dreary cycle of despair that our criminal justice system had become. The endless merry-go-round of the same people going through the hands of the same organisations year in, year out turned me into a “convicted” penal reformer and so I welcome the very promising Prison and Courts Reform Bill from the Government. During the Second Reading debate last night I suggested three amendments to it on merging probation into police forces, charging for compulsory sobriety order testing, and allowing coroners to waive the need for an inquiry when someone travels abroad to get assistance to die.
Prison and Courts Reform Bill
